A short Fuse

The Scion Fuse concept unveiled at the New York Auto Show features a radical shape, a flexible interior design, and futuristic electronics. With its Scion brand, Toyota showed that it could take successful risks. When Toyota announced it would unveil a new sport coupe concept at the New York Auto Show, I was thinking, "You've already got a sport coupe, the ." But the Fuse, with its almost trucklike profile, could sit alongside the tC in Scion's model lineup without intruding on its turf. The concept earns its name (short for Fusion, since that was taken) by having a body that takes cues from the xB but sits on a tC platform. I also suspect Toyota engineers wanted to confront the challenge of making a sport coupe with headroom for rear passengers, something they didn't bother with on the tC. In good concept fashion, the doors, opened by a small, exterior push button, butterfly out. The inside is designed for flexibility, where all seats but the driver's can fold flat, maximizing cargo space. The dashboard is one long display that can show vehicle and entertainment information, as well as videos. The wheels have LEDs on their spokes, which light up as turn signals, and the headlight color can actually be customized.